THEN
IT'S GOALS YOU'LL GET. 6'5 Mustangs monster Chris Berti streaks to
the net before scaring the living daylights out of Lakehead goaltender
Grant McCune.

Coming off a shocking
9-2 defeat the previous night, the Lakehead Thunderwolves looked to prove
that they were better than their poor showing Friday night against the
Mustangs indicated. When they took the ice, they looked like a different
team  specifically, an angry team.

Their change in attitude was reflected on the scoreboard, as Lakehead
jumped out to an early 2-0 first period lead. But, like they've done to
so many opponents before, Western bided their time, regrouped and eventually
prevailed with a 5-4 win.

Western coach Clarke Singer discussed his team's early misfortune on Saturday
night.

"We were working hard [in the first period], but [Lakehead] out-worked
us," he said. This allowed Lakehead to post a two-goal first period
lead.

But, as good teams tend to do, Western responded. When captain Ryan Mckie's
shot led to a fat rebound, forward Darren Mortier jumped all over it like
a plump Canadian on a bacon sandwich, putting Western on the board.

It's hard to tell if it was being outshot 13-6 in the first, the Western
band playing the Hawaii Five-O theme song or the thought of their nine
billion game winning streak coming to an end, but Western came out fired-up
in the second period.

The Western defense set the tone for the period early. Led by Shawn Thompson
and Mckie, the backliners were giving the crowd more hits than The Beatles.

While the rest of the team was finishing their checks like Jann Arden
finishing a rack of ribs, the forwards started to rack up the goals. Spark
plug Tim Zafiris scored his first of three goals after a great pass from
Jamie Chamberlin.

To complete the comeback, Darren Mortier gave Western the lead with a
feathery tip, as the Mustangs outshot the Thunderwolves 19-3 in the second
period.

The third period started with another early Zafiris goal and what looked
to be the final farewell to another minor threat to the team's unbeaten
streak. But, after a scrap between Western's Christ Berti and Lakehead's
Aaron Piccini, it was clear that the game would be, as Singer said, "emotional
and close to the end."

The Thunderwolves bolted back into the game with two quick goals to tie
the affair at four. However, Western goalie Mike D'Alessandro came up
big, setting the stage for a Mustangs' win.

"We battled and battled," explained Lakehead coach Pete Belliveau.
"This game is a major disappointment."

The final blow came when Zafiris fired home his third goal of the game
to give Western a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.

After the game, a confident Zafiris spoke about Western's dominance. "Nobody
can beat us, we only lose if we beat ourselves."